


Inevitable

by Lyl



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Timeline, Community: sga_flashfic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-19
Updated: 2010-07-19
Packaged: 2017-10-10 16:30:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/101787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyl/pseuds/Lyl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things are inevitable from the first, though you don't always know it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inevitable

Sheppard’s POV

He tries to remember when he first knew that this day was inevitable, and can’t quite seem to pin-point one exact instance. He could name all the steps leading to this decision, but not the defining moment.

_“We’re ready, Colonel.”_

Maybe it was when they uncovered the step-by-step instructions on how to make ZPM’s, but he casts that thought aside. By then things had progressed to such a state that no mention of the discovery made its way back to Earth on the weekly data transmission. He remembered smiling in pride and delight at his people, watching the small blip that was the Daedalus move off the screen. Every one of them had kept the secret, their faith in those back on Earth destroyed. It was the first time he could remember that he actually smiled and meant it - the first time since the Day.

_“How far away are they?”_

It could have been when they tried to install a new military commander - again -, after the last one had been caught in the backlash of his own poorly planned coup. Colonel Danforth - the latest in a long line of Colonels commanding the Daedalus - had thought he could tear apart the infrastructure of Atlantis by creating a divide between the military and civilian scientists. He hadn’t realized that they had long since passed the point of categorizing each other. They were no longer military and civilian, but soldier, doctor, engineer, biologist, anthropologist . . . leader. The people of Atlantis had come together as one community, each trusting in the other, so when the rumours had started they hadn’t gotten far. Far enough, though, to reach his ears. A few well placed harassment and discrimination complaints against the man, and Danforth was back on Earth facing a review committee. By far, it had been the least bloodiest and stressful turnaround yet, earning him a huff of disbelief from McKay and a week’s coffee rations from Lorne.

_“They’re too far to keep tabs on us, and not nearly close enough to contact Earth.”_

  
No, it hadn’t been that either, because even though he’d done more than enough to be promoted and still been passed over, things had been happening before then. The new toys were hidden while the Daedalus was docked, reports were exaggerated and detailed, spelling out the utter lack of interesting happenings in the Pegasus Galaxy, and new personnel were subjected to such scathing hate, that they never stayed long enough to see the Daedalus leave.

_“Okay. Start powering up. I’ll be down-” “Yes. Go!”_

There was a strong possibility that it was the moment he found out no help would be sent to Atlantis – the Day that Atlantis was betrayed by their ‘superiors’. The plague that had been devastating the Pegasus Galaxy for the last years had finally hit Atlantis, and until a reasonable cure could be found no government on Earth was willing to send even the most basic of aid. _‘The risk is too high.’_ and _‘Quarantine must be enforced.’_ were some of the phrases they’d all heard. He supposed that after having 40% of the planet wiped out by an ancient, unknown plague of their own, the Powers on Earth were a tad twitchy when it came to infectious diseases - they all understood that, having lost at least one loved one years before. Beckett had managed to pull himself away from the sick to put together a solution that involved beaming down supplies from orbit, but the SGC and Washington would have none of it. Come to think of it, that was probably the final act that lost them Atlantis. Any loyalty to Earth and its leaders died with 152 people. The remaining 197 were only there because of their ATA gene, but that was small comfort. He suspected that on that day, at that moment, all of their plans had been hatched - silent but deadly in the hands of true masters.

They’d lost so many; the Athosians, half the scientists, a third of the military. Their names were ingrained into his very being, recited aloud almost daily, reverent in their sounds. _Tollier. Wilkinson. Fairmont. Smith. Teyla. Stackhouse. Zelenka . . ._

Elizabeth.

On the day that she had died, a cloud had formed on the horizon, shrouding Atlantis in darkness and shadows.

_“We’re all set down here, Rodney.”_

Again, he couldn’t really say that had been the point of no return. The instant at which their path had been locked, set in stone. Even before that, there had been a certain underlying inevitability to all their actions, as if this day was a forgone conclusion. Thinking back, it could have been any number of things, including the repeated attempts to destroy the city in ever-creative ways, the multitude of spies and plants within their ranks, even the numerous assassins sent their way - all graciously supplied from Earth, in one form or another.

  
Maybe it hadn’t been a single point in time, but more a progression of circumstances. Each event leading to a loss of respect and trust in his superiors, and a desire to protect his people at all cost. It was a feeling he was familiar with, but never had he had so many looking to him for salvation. They looked to him for survival, and that survival was threatened by those back on Earth. Everyone knew it was only a matter of time before they started questioning the lack of actual useful information and technology they dutifully sent back each week.

_“Inertial dampeners are at maximum.”_

Whether they suspected yet or not, Atlantis would not be around for them question.

Over the years, enough had been discovered to unravel the secrets of the Ancients - in relation to technology, anyways. The whole ascension deal had been put on the backburner years earlier. Recently, however, the science staff had made some major breakthroughs. Enough, in fact, to warrant their current course of action.

_“Energy readings are steady.”_

They were leaving the Pegasus Galaxy.

He remembered the first time he realized – truly realized – that Atlantis was a ship. A ‘star’ ship.

A means to find them all somewhere safe to live.

He was determined to find his people a new home, one where bureaucrats and generals - so far removed from the action that they couldn’t begin to understand what it was to live with the threat of the Wraith hanging over their heads - made the important decisions. Not that the Wraith were a problem any longer - a mutated version of the Hoffan serum became infectious and took care of that problem - a fact the SGC was not aware of. Their belief in the Wraith threat gave the people of Atlantis another layer of cover to make good their escape.

Which they would, he silently promised himself. This city and its people would know peace, if it was the last thing he did.

_“Is everyone tucked in tight, Lorne? This could get a little bumpy.”_

The time had finally come to put their plan into action, and he found himself overwhelmed by the effort his people had put into this escapade. Contingencies and backups had been picked over in detail, hours spent arguing over the best time to leave, months spent collecting everything they could possibly need, filling the unused areas of the city to bursting.

A secondary stargate on the planet to avert suspicion for awhile, a computer program in the Daedalus’ systems to prevent any return trip for several weeks and a few nuclear explosions in their planetary system as they left would cover any trail the engines would possibly leave.

  
He had to smile as he thought about the second ‘gate. That had been the most ingenious plan he and McKay had come up with yet. Through a series of combined events, including knock-out gas and a ‘special’ dinner in the mess, the crew of the Daedalus hadn’t even known the ship had been used to snag some nearby planet’s stargate. A coolant leak was used to explain the gas, with Beckett doing his part with the big needles and invasive exams.

Refusing to give a doctor the tools he needs to save lives in the middle of a crisis has consequences.

_“Define ‘bumpy’?!” “Calm down, McKay. We’re all set, sir.”_

Now that he thought about it, laying back in the control chair as the city’s engines powered up around him, maybe this moment had been inevitable since his first step into Atlantis. The city had become his home more than Earth had ever been, and he’d known from the first that he would do everything in his power to protect it and its people - the Next Generation of Ancients, as McKay called them.

_“Alright. Here goes nothing.”_

It was time to leave. Time to take their beloved city to the stars in search of a new home.

Maybe in another ten thousand years, Earth’s descendants would find the Lost City of Atlantis - in another galaxy, a part of a large network of newly built stargates, populated by descendants of Atlantis.

Maybe it would work out better this time.

He hoped.

END


End file.
